Climate change adaptation in small island developing states

Abstract

The impacts of climate change are already being experienced by the most vulnerable countries around the world, particularly small island developing states (SIDS). Many SIDS are isolated, and environmentally and economically exposed. Together, these 58 countries constitute a uniquely vulnerable grouping of developing countries whose national governments are prioritising climate change adaptation in order to ensure their sustainable development. In spite of the importance and urgency of adaptation for SIDS, there is little evidence in the academic literature about how these countries, as a whole and spread across the Atlantic, Indian Ocean, Mediterranean and South China Sea, Caribbean and Pacific regions, are adapting to climate change. This thesis helps to fill this gap. Prepared as a compilation of academic papers accepted for publication in leading peer-reviewed journals, this thesis takes a meta-paradigmatic, research-led, mixed methods, comparative case study approach to answering two primary questions—How are SIDS adapting to climate change at the national level? and What are the factors that affect adaptation at the national level in SIDS? There are eight sub-questions associated with the second primary question. These were derived from the answers to the first primary question. They explore the trends in and determinants of international adaptation financing to SIDS; the effectiveness of regional organisations coordinating adaptation responses across SIDS; the drivers of and barriers to mainstreaming adaptation into national development policies and programs in SIDS; and the nature and potential range of adaptation limits in SIDS. Key findings of this research include that: (1) SIDS are primarily engaged in the observation and assessment of climate variables and in education and knowledge management activities but less so in actual implementation, and monitoring and evaluation; (2) the allocation and sources of adaptation financing to SIDS are highly skewed and that governance quality is a strong determinant of adaptation financing to SIDS; (3) regional organisations are least effective in relation to their implementation and management of regional adaptation projects and programs across SIDS; (4) institutions and organisations, ‘champions’, personalities and informal networks, and risk and exposure are the main drivers of adaptation mainstreaming in SIDS; competing development priorities, poor planning and governance, and insufficient manpower and human resources are the main barriers; and (5) institutional constraints, as opposed to physical and ecological constraints, are potentially stronger drivers of adaptation limits in SIDS. This thesis makes a number of important contributions to the academic literature. These include: (1) offering one of the first cross-regional analyses of adaptation in SIDS; (2) documenting the experience of SIDS with accessing adaptation financing; (3) developing a framework for assessing the effectiveness of regional organisations coordinating adaptation in SIDS, which organisations can apply themselves; and (4) developing a seven-step process for practically achieving adaptation mainstreaming in SIDS. This body of work is especially useful for national governments, regional and international organisations as well as other actors involved in national-level climate change adaptation in SIDS—it highlights gaps in adaptation action requiring their attention. Show more